Edited by Shloka Sankar
Coming to college becomes an important part of one’s life, not only because they are exposed to ideas alien to their knowledge, but also beliefs that they can feel familiar with. When they feel familiar with such new beliefs, whether political, philosophical, or economic; it’s not too late until they start making that their entire personality. Don’t get me wrong, but college starts acting like a bubble and then oscillates between the naivete of a high school curriculum and the pretentious adulthood and illusive freedom of being in college. This when combined with incomplete desires of one’s teenage years, and continuous exposure to social media, we start moving one step closer to knowing and understanding who we admire. Ah, college gets so interesting when a moral high (ground) gets combined with our need to be closer to our favorite celebrities in a politically dynamic environment.Â
This transition might be smooth. However, this transgression doesn’t stay stable for long. It becomes difficult for young adults with new political ideas to navigate the moral minefield which requires them to separate art from the artist, separating a celebrity from what they’re a celebrity for and this leads to an incredibly debatable understanding of how we look and consume popular culture. Generation Z is not the only generation that is dealing with a problem like this, the degree of this problem has simply gotten higher. For a generation that highly relies on perception, and the need to make judgements, political correctness becomes a criterion for likeability. Being politically correct is not the criterion in itself, it’s the dopamine high that is achieved as a reaction to having a more widely accepted political belief. However, a personal political belief does not necessarily align with that of certain celebrities and artists that one might like.
 Due to social media, Generation Z has now developed a strong para-social relationship with celebrities and their favorite artists which has completely changed how popular culture is both consumed and produced daily. Multiple studies have been conducted and have simultaneously concluded that Generation Z in comparison to the previous generation(s) is relatively more obsessed with celebrities. Considering the combination of stan culture, and cancel culture which is a result of the need to be politically correct and its resulting moral high ground, it’s not a surprise that the discussion of separating art from the artist becomes an incredibly murky water. Let’s face it, we are living in an age where we are closer to our favorite celebrities more than ever, and they constantly drug us with dopamine through their latest music, movies, shows, collaborations, skincare and makeup lines, controversies, and more. How do we strike a balance between the dopamine we extract from our favorite artists and the validation we receive from ourselves by having a politically correct opinion? It’s a battle between one drug and the other, and really, no one wins.
With the need for one to be politically correct, and strike out celebrities from a hypothetical list of artists appropriate enough to like; cancel culture has come around to be both important and unnecessary to how we look at popular culture today. While this culture holds celebrities accountable for problematic behavior, it dehumanizes them and makes them extremely vulnerable to criticism and a state of boycott. At the same time, it puts “unproblematic” celebrities, or should I say, publicly “unproblematic” celebrities on a pedestal and celebrates the bare minimum. But, what happens when we find ourselves in a position where we need to make a choice between our admiration for an artist and our moral and political convictions? Do we simply uphold a strict moral code and reject celebrities left and right? Do we also reject their work? Or do we still appreciate their art, which eventually pays their bills?
I am not sure if these questions above can be answered in the first place. People usually answer the above questions in two major ways; some argue that personal beliefs shouldn’t be the reason to dissociate them from their art. Whether it’s anti-semitism, racism, or homophobia, none of these should be reasons to not appreciate an artist for the work they do, or for the art they make and the rest of their artistic and cultural contributions. On the other hand, others argue that the intertwining of an artist and their moral and political beliefs is completely unavoidable. In times where we maintain a largely intimate and para-social relationship with our favorite artists and celebrities, concluding a debate like such is incredibly difficult.Â
One question that we can ask ourselves is if we can escape art. Can we run away from a club that’s playing the rap of a homophobic rapper? Can we close our eyes while watching a sexist actor delivering a ten-minute monologue during a movie? Can we stop an art jury from awarding an anti-semite graffiti artist? Can we unfriend someone for listening to a racist artist? How do we block someone’s advocacy for an artist’s freedom of expression? Can we not do our makeup in secret while we listen to an artist who is a pathological liar? Where does this leave us eventually?Â
As Gen Z, college students, and young adults, trying to navigate the slippery slope between cancel culture and stan culture, the apparent conclusion is somewhere in the middle. The question of whether we can separate art from an artist eventually can be answered on an individual personal basis. If you can differentiate between, and draw a line between the feeling of liking or loving something, concluding can be easier for you. But as Generation Z constantly tries to battle one addiction with another and one desire with the other, we often try to substitute and displace more than we deduct, we keep blurring the line between what we like, or love, or what we obsess over. Until we conclude, let’s ignore the fact that one of my playlists has both West and Swift.